Barking Spiders
by ByStarlight999
Summary: Various unrelated drabbles. Prompts will be given a lovely home! T because... just because.
1. Storm

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**Hello, and welcome! It took me a while to work up the courage to do this, but here I am!**

**This particular drabble was actually based on a song- Black Cadillacs by Modest Mouse.**

**Reviews and critiques are much appreciated, and if you really like it, you'll leave prompts so I can write many more. :)**

**P.S. I tried to fix the tense errors (it sort of mutated while I was writing it), but I'm sure I missed some, so please point them out if you see any. It's supposed to be in present tense.**

**Enjoy!**

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It wasn't yet raining, but he could tell it would soon. The clouds hung low, dark and thick, and thunder rumbled in the distance, just loud enough to cover up the words of the man speaking.

"Mr. Sharp was an excellent soldier, a fantastic airman... honored to have known him, fought with him..."

Alek doesn't know the man, but he assumes he is important. After all, unimportant people generally don't make speeches at funerals.

Looking over the group assembled, Alek once again feels like he was intruding. He doesn't truly belong here, and almost everyone seems to know it. He has received more than one hostile glare.

But she had asked him to come.

So here he was, standing just on the fringes of this private ceremony, which, thankfully, was coming to a close.

As the man finished speaking, the morose gathering slowly filed out. Last came Deryn, her lovely face pale, her eyes wet with unshed tears. She stood for a moment, looking lost and confused, until he stepped to her and put his arms around her. Burying her face in his chest, her thin shoulders shook with silent sobs.

Pity and sorrow welled in Alek's stomach. She was losing everything. Her brother had been shot, and her dreams of flying had been smashed with the reveal.

And soon, Alek himself would be leaving.

Though he'd rather not think about that.


	2. Taking A Walk

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**Hello again!**

**Normally, I won't be posting this frequently (I'll try to do it every 2-3 days), but I just couldn't resist putting up this one. You don't see enough Fanfic with a minor character taking the lead, and who doesn't love Tazza?**

**Please review and enjoy!**

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This section of the ship is, surprisingly, empty. Which is part of the reason Tazza wants to walk down it.

Or, more accurately, walk partway down, then sit in the middle and refuse to move.

The girl walking him nearly falls over when he stops suddenly. Cursing, she turns back to look at him.

"Come on, Tazza, you daft beastie. I don't have time for this."

His ears perk slightly. He loves the smooth, soft voice she only uses around him. Loves it so much better than the rougher one she uses around everyone else. He doesn't know why she even uses it at all, but he suspects it had something to do with the fact that everyone calls her "Mr."

Stupid humans. Can't even tell a boy from a girl.

"Tazza, if you don't move right now, I swear, I'll feed you to the flècette bats."

Tazza isn't concerned. He knows the squeaky things with wings only eat metal (also stupid). But all the same, he gets up as suddenly as he stopped and takes off.

This time, the girl does fall over.


	3. Brilliant Ideas

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**I know, I know, this one's really short. I honestly tried to make it longer, but it just wouldn't work, and then I realized it was perfect the way it is. ;) ****I'll post another early tomorrow to make up for it.**

**I only have about eight left, so if you want to see more, please leave promts! **

**Super special thanks to GECOcally for being my first reviewer, and to , Julia456, SignedAnon, and Holly Marie Fowl for reiviewing also. Reading everything made me absurdly happy.**

**Enjoy!**

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"Who's brilliant idea was this?"

_"Yours, I believe."_

"Can you do me a favor?"

_"What?"_

"Remind me not to come up with any more brilliant ideas."

_"Of course."_


	4. Daily Occurrences

**So this isn't really my best, but... it kind of had to be written, if you know what I mean.**

**And you will _never_ find out what happened in Brilliant Ideas. Never! Mua ha ha!**

**Enjoy!**

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The two men were sitting in the parlor, talking. Not much of interest- politics, the weather- but mind-numbing exercises such as these did have to be done from time to time. Especially if you didn't much like the person you were talking to.

As the men were beginning to approach running out of things to say, a crash came from the next room, followed by loud, colorful swearing. Shortly afterwards, a young woman came rushing through, her blonde hair partially done up, but mostly falling every-which way. She showed a surprising amount of skin- but then again, men's clothes, like the ones she was wearing, generally did such.

She scowled at one of the young men as she passed. "I'm fine," she remarked irately. "Thank you for asking." The male she had addressed watched her as she stormed out of the room, one eyebrow raised in amusement. As the door slammed shut, Alek resumed his conversation exactly where he left off, almost as if this was a daily occurrence.

Which, the other man found out later, was exactly what it was.


	5. Stargazing

**This one is a little sad. Ok, really sad. As in I almost cried writing this. But don't worry- the fluff in the next one gives cotton candy a run for it's money.**

**Thanks for all the reviews! They mean a lot :)**

**Enjoy!**

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"Look, Deryn."

She did, and gasped at the sight.

Before her, hundreds of stars were falling from the sky, leaping from their heavenly home like the man who had jumped off London Bridge last Tuesday- but their death was much more spectacular.

Deryn knew they were really just chunks of rock, burning up in the atmosphere, but she felt they were too beautiful to be given such a mundane explanation. She and her father would often come up with elaborate stories, describing the things they saw in the night sky.

Other times, he would quiz her.

He spun her around until she could hardly stand, then asked, "Which way's north?"

She scanned the sky, trying to get her bearings. Then, she pointed. "That way."

"Where's Cancer?"

"There."

"Where's Hydra?

"There."

"Scorpius?"

She's confused, but only for a moment. "That won't be in the sky until June."

Her father chuckles. She smiles as he puts his arm around her shoulder. "You're just to smart for me, nowadays."

They stood there, on that ridge outside their modest house, for hours, just staring, until the sun began to tint the horizon a faint gray.

Deryn and her father looked at eachother at the same time. "Let's go back, before your mam finds out," he says with a wink. Of course, when they enter the home, the young girl's mother was there, hands on her hips, eyes flashing angrily.

"You took her out all night again, didn't you?"

"Of course not, Anne. Only since midnight." Her father attempts to put his arms around his wife, but she manuvers deftly out of his reach.

"That's still less than four hours of sleep! She will suffer, with what you're having her do! She's just a girl! Why can't you wake Jaspert in the wee hours of the night?-"

"Lord have mercy- Anne! It's just one night! One night won't hurt her." Deryn mouths this line along with her father. She's heard this argument so many times, she knows it word for word. Now her mother will say, _That's what you said the last time!,_ and then insist that there would be no more "midnight marauding" for her, and her father would agree, everyone knowing that there would be a next time, and that they would have this conversation all over again.

But this time, her mother just sighs. "I suppose it is her birthday, after all. But no more, you hear? She's eleven now, she needs to settle down."

"Of course, Anne," her da replies, with a wink at Deryn. They still all know what will happen.

At least, they think they know. Because this time, her mother is right.

After all, dead men can't wake their daughters in the middle of the night to gaze at the stars.


	6. Madness

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**Guess what day it is?**

**Actually, today IS World Teacher Day. How did you know?**

**But, more importantly... BEHEMOTH COMES OUT TODAY! *runs around screaming***

**So, to celebrate, here is the fluffiest piece of fluff I will ever write... EVER. You'll get another cute one when I actually get Behemoth (tomorrow or Thursday- Amazon won't give me day-of- release shipping).**

**Enjoy!**

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As her Da would have said, madness ran in the family.

There was her Auntie Jean, who lived with twenty-two cats. And her Gram, who rode a unicycle, even though she was reaching seventy. Even her own mam, who only went out on Tuesdays and Fridays, and cleaned everything twice before she allowed anything to be done with it.

But as Alek kissed her, and her legs turned to jelly, her heart fluttered in her chest, and her stomach did little flips, she decided that she was the craziest of them all.


	7. Serious

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**I would like to announce that I have Behemoth, and to present a question to you all. I was planning on going through the pictures in Behemoth and writing little drabbles, but I don't know. Do you want picture drabbles? Do you only want story drabbles? Do you not want any drabbles? Do you want me to stop asking questions? I aim to please.**

**Anywho, this little conversation/argument practically exploded out of my head. I personally think it's cute. :)**

****Enjoy!

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_"What if I refuse?"_

"What?"

_"That man's deal. What if I tell him to go jump off a cliff?"_

"He probably would. Ow! What?"

_"I'm barking serious, Alek."_

"As am I. He would do anything you told him to do."

_"Idiot."_

"He loves you."

_"He's a bleeding liar. And he smells like my auntie's cat's clart-box."_

"How wonderfully poetic."

_"You try to tell me he doesn't smell like cat piss."_

"I doubt I could lie about something this barking serious."

_"Buzz off."_


	8. Together

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**I don't quite know where this one came from. I had the beginning sitting around for a while, then just blew together the rest.**

**Enjoy!**

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There was nothing traditional about them.

He was a boy, who was noble by birth, and lived for his machines. A boy of thought, rather than action. A boy- young man, really- who had never really felt at home with himself.

She was a girl, born and raised in Scotland, a Darwinist to her very core. A girl, who preferred the wind in her face to her feet on the ground. A girl who, half the time, was posing as a boy.

They were the last two people you would expect together, and yet they were almost never apart.

People stopped them, talked to them, complimented them, cursed them, ignored them. Children would ask them for stories. And they'd tell them. The high mountains of Switzerland, the slums of Istanbul, the oceans off the coast of Japan- they'd seen it all. Together.

They were the ones to stop the war. They were the ones to bring the world together.

It was only fitting that they stayed together, too.


	9. Sun

She can't stand the sun.

Most people would consider this to be a perfect day. It's neither too hot nor too cold, and it is quite obvious that rain isn't anywhere on the schedule. To her, it feels mocking.

The day her mother died, the sun shone brighter than it ever had before. During the funeral, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

She's always been like this. Always preferred the cloak of night. Darkness had provided a sense of comfort early on. Even the distance of the stars had made her feel peaceful. Night had given her a strange freedom from the taxations of daily life. She didn't have to do anything, impress anyone. She didn't have to be someone she truly wasn't.

Secrets stayed hidden in the dark.

She's drawn from her thoughts by young laughter. Two boys race along the beach. The one trailing is soaked through, and as he catches up, Newkirk tackles Dylan, dispensing them both into the sea. The sun glints like diamonds off of the resulting splash.

Dr. Barlow smiles.

She prefers the dark, but sometimes she doesn't mind the sun.

**Are you ready... to explore the inner workings... of Dr. Barlow's mind? (duh-duh-duuuuhhh)**

**I _really _liked Dr. Barlow at the end of Leviathan ( I still haven't read Behemoth yet, so I can't say if I'll still like her), and I wanted to know more about her past, but she's too darn secretive. Even wikipedia has next to nothing on the real Dr. Barlow. So I wrote this ;)**

**This one is angsty, but it's based off of a really depressing song, so...**

**Enjoy!**


	10. Maps

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**I just realized that I had posted several stories all at once with the last chapter... whoops! I'll be posting them all again seperately, to clear things up.**

**I've seen a lot about this topic, mostly in Ipod drabbles. I really liked the idea, so I took it and made it longer.**

**Enjoy!**

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Deryn holds her breath in anticipation. Alek pours over the maps she herself had been studying, sleepless but not set for a watch. She keeps hoping for the light to come into his face as he discovers it- but is disappointed when he simply shakes his head, small drops of water flinging themselves across the papers.

"I'm sorry. I just don't see it." He looks apologetic, but she's not entirely sure she believes it.

"Are you sure you aren't just saying that just because you're mad?"

He feigns surprise, and says (with more sarcasm than she had thought he could muster), "Why would I be mad? I generally greatly enjoy having a bucket of cold water dumped on my head while I'm asleep."

She grits her teeth, coming _this close_ to letting him have it, but takes a deep breath, stopping herself. It won't do her any good if he's really mad at her.

"Look," she says, coming around to his side of the table, "we've been trying to find a way through here, right?"

She gestures to an area of the map, swarming with small dots marking military bases. He nods, then says, "It would be the fastest way through. Are you saying you found a-?"

"No," she said, grinning widely. "It's barking impossible. You couldn't put a hair in there without the Germans finding it."

Now he's just confused. "Then why-?"

"Just listen, OK?" He nods, slowly. He probably thinks she's lost it. She wouldn't be that surprised if she had. "We've been trying to get through here because it's the fastest way through, right?"

He nods again, wisely not saying anything.

"Is it really?"

He starts nodding again, then stops, furrowing his brow.

"Do you see it?"

"I think I do." He pauses, then, slowly, "We said it would be faster because it would be easier. This way-" he signals to a nearby part of the map "-would actually be more direct."

"It would be more difficult though, what with the mountains and other such clart. But there's only a few bases, and they're small at that."

"They must not think we'd chance it."

"Not too bright, are they?"

Alek shakes his head, partially in agreement, partially in amazement. "Where would we be without you?"

"Freezing your bums off on a glacier."

He laughs, slips an arm around her, and presses a kiss to her temple. "You're right- of course."


	11. School

Sophie watches her mother wash the dishes from dinner. A common task, one Sophie would normally help with, but, frankly, she's in too much shock.

"Mi manda dove siete?"

Her mother ignores her. Sophie sighs, then tries again, in English:

"You're sending me where?"

Her mother looks up and pushes a strand of blonde hair out of her face. "Please don't take this the wrong way, Sophie. It won't even be for long."

"But why are you sending me to a boarding school in London? Aren't there plenty in Italy? Or Austria, even? What about Switzerland?" She's overwhelmed by this sudden change. Her mother sighs, and shifts her eyes quickly to the newspaper on the table and back to Sophie.

"Your father and I have something very important to take care of, and we feel it would be- safer for you to be in one place. And you'll get to meet your uncle, and all your cousins, like you've been wanting to." Her mother says this in French. It's a sort of game they've always played together, switching languages and dialects in the middle of a conversation, trying to stay in it as best as possible. It's the way Sophie and her brother have both learned to speak six different languages fluently, and understand four others.

But her mother has a point. Sophie has been begging to see the family she barely knows about. The family that, possibly, doesn't even know she exists.

Her gaze is drawn out the small kitchen window by the sound of her brother. Her father is trying to teach him to fence, but he's simply complaining- loudly- about how tired he is. Sophie smiles, simply because this was exactly how she acted when she learned to fence two years ago. She remembered complaining to her mother, to which Deryn had laughed and replied, "Oh, he was like that teaching _me_ to fence, too." At the time, Sophie had been thrilled with the revelation, as neither of her parents talked about their past.

"Sophie?"

She turns back to her mother, her auburn hair swishing around her face. "What about-?"

"He'll been in school, too, just a ways down the street."

The young girl sighs a little. "Alright," she says. "We'll be coming home soon, though, right?"

Her mother's face softens, but her eyes flick back to the newspaper, and Sophie can tell she's lying before the words come out of her mouth.

"Of course, Sophie. As soon as possible."

Her mother is a terrible liar. She doesn't know when they'll see each other again.

Her father comes in, carrying her giggling brother. In the commotion, Sophie glances at the newspaper her mother's eyes kept wandering to.

She falls asleep wondering why the death of an emperor is sending her to London.


	12. Curses

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**This was supposed to be based off of The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson, but it ended up the exact opposite. Meaning angst. Lots of it.**

**Enjoy! Review! Leave prompts! Brush your teeth! Have a nice day!**

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She sits in a nearly bare room, in a small chair in front of a fire. Her eyes reflect the dancing flames, but hold no life of their own.

In her hands is a bundle of letters. Nearly three years worth of letters, filled with empty words and broken promises.

One by one, she reads them one last time, then tosses them into the blaze.

_How had she get herself into this?_

She had always been the flighty, independent one- her father had sometimes, when she was very little, called her his "little bird". And then, while disguised as a boy in the British Air Fleet, she had fallen, hard, for a boy: a clanker, and an emperor to boot!

He had promised to come back for her, but he never had. And now, he never would.

Tears burned her eyes as she tossed the last letter in. Filled with anger, regret, and a disappointment so bitter she could taste it, she cursed him, his name, his voice, everything. Everything that had once made her deliriously happy, she damned him for, damned him to hell.

There was, however, one thing.

A young girl, hardly even two, asleep in the next room of the tiny home. As much as she might want to, Deryn could never curse , or even be angry at, the child who was equal parts herself and him, a bittersweet reminder of what they once had been.

The tears overflowed.


	13. Daft

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**Hello again!**

**I'm afraid this may be the last one for a while, as my muse has abandonded me. So don't get too mad if I don't update, okay? As soon as I have another one, I will post it. Promise.**

**This one somehow lodged itself in my brain after reading the part in Behemoth when Deryn talks about how her dad died (someone please tell me that I'm not the only one who cried reading that), and it refused to let me sleep until I had written it down. So here it is ;)**

**Enjoy!**

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The moon is full, throwing light and shadows across every surface and in every corner. The night is also surprisingly silent. Perhaps that is why the slight noise woke Alek.

He can tell it's her before he even sees her. He walks up slowly, trying not to disturb her, but she hears him, casting a glance in his direction as he comes up beside her.

"You alright?" he asks.

"Nightmares," she answers. He nods slightly in understanding. What they experienced today was horribly like how she had described her father's death. He thinks briefly how terrible it must be, but his mind shies away from it, because he knows he never really could feel the way she feels.

They stand in silence for a few minutes, until Deryn breaks it. "Thank you. For saving me."

He starts to speak, then stops when he realizes Deryn has more to say. Quietly, she whispers, "I wasn't sure you would."

Alek is dumbfounded, so much so that at first he's sure he heard wrong. "Why wouldn't I have?"

Deryn seems surprised at the shock in his voice. "You were so angry, when I told you, I didn't know..." Her voice peters out, unsure.

His voice becomes adamant. "You're still my friend, Deryn. No matter what."

Her face becomes so relieved when he says this, that he feels horrible. He didn't realize how upset _she _was that he was upset. "I shouldn't have said those things. I overreacted. I'm sorry, Deryn."

She sighs. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied."

"You had to."

"Not to you."

They go back and forth a few more times before Alek realizes that it's one of the strangest arguments he's ever had. Apparently, Deryn also notices this, because she stops in the middle of her sentence and begins to laugh.

"God, we're both daft, aren't we?"

Alek has to agree.


	14. Discovery

**OK! Story time!**

**This one is for Call Me Mad AKA Ninja Fish. Now, if I was a terrible person, I'd complain about how I spent nearly 48 solid hours trying to come up with how to do this (I'm not joking. I actually had a dream about it, but I can't remember it...), and how terrible it is, and how if you don't like it I'm going to go throw my cat off the roof of my house. But you know what? I'm not a terrible person. I didn't mind writing this. Really. Actually, I kind of enjoyed it.**

**Oh, and YoungDreamer, I know you wanted one from Volger's POV, and I want to tell you that I'm working on it. Honest!**

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**Enjoy!**

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"I'm a girl, Alek."

At first, he doesn't believe it. He's lying, or Alek misunderstood him. But there's no way that Dylan, his friend, the daring one, is a girl. It's impossible.

But then it hits him.

It feels like he's being shot, but much worse. His mind reels. Faintly, he hears _her_ voice, calling out to him, concerned. But he can't respond. Everything has just been spun into a new focus. Things he didn't understand before he now understands only too well.

"Alek, are you okay?"

"What do you think?" His voice comes out harsh and hoarse, and just a little breathless. "You've been lying to me, all this time-"

"I tried to tell you earlier-"

"I _trusted_ you." He's furious now. "I told you everything, and now- this!"

Now she's angry too. "I could have kept it to myself just now! Just me and your barking count, would you have rather had that?"

"I would rather have never met you. You should have stayed home, where a woman belongs."

She slaps him. Hard.

By the time he recovers, she's long gone.


	15. Part of the Plan

**Is this cheating? I think it's cheating. I'm sorry, I am just not feeling creative, and so you must suffer.**

**Dialogue is NOT MINE! It is taken straight from Behemoth (pg. 245-246) and belongs to Scott Westerfeld.**

**Enjoy!**

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"Have you gone barking mad as well?" she cries. "I'm not a traitor... not _that _much of one, anyway."

"Perhaps, but if you don't help us, I shall be forced to reveal your little secret."

The girl stiffens. She knows exactly what's coming. As he lists off every reason (well, _almost _every reason) he has to suspect her of not being entirely honest of her gender, and as she steadily grows paler, he feels a little twinge of guilt. He hasn't felt the emotion in a while, so at first he doesn't recognize it. The second he does, he buries it. No time for emotions now.

"I don't know... what you're talking about."

The reporter (insufferable ignoramus) makes some flippant comment, but Volger ignores him, instead addressing the girl: "So if you want to continue serving on this ship, _Mr. _Sharp, I think you will be helping us escape. Or shall I give our reporter friend here the news?"

Her face pales even more, and she bites her lip, obviously trying to think of a way out of this and finding nothing. This time, the guilt refuses to be shaken off. If he was willing to admit it to himself, he actually, in a way, admires the girl for her tenacity, and her generally quick thinking.

As the spark of anger and hate gleams in her eyes, the guilt deepens just before he finally manages to push it back. Because he can't feel guilty. She _has _to hate him.

It is, of course, all part of the plan.


	16. Concerned

**GUESS WHAT. My birthday is Friday. Meaning that, instead of me bringing a drabble to all of you lovely people, you must write a drabble for me.**

**I'm just kidding. You don't have to write me anything. Though, if you want to, by all means, go right ahead. ;)**

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**I realized writing this that all of my dialogue-only fics have been of Alek and Deryn arguing. I don't know why. It's just so easy to write them like that.**

**There is a THIRD character in this dialogue. The first person to get who it is and their one (1) line wins 5,000 internetz! (Internetz are not a valid system of currency in any country, and thus have no actual value. Except for bragging rights.)**

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**Enjoy!**

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"Alek, just let me see it!"

"It isn't that bad. Just a scratch."

"Alek, you were shot."

"I've been shot before. It hurt more that time."

"Alek, if you don't let me look at it, I'm going to drag you back to the ship and have the surgeon cut your arm off."

"Cut your arm off."

"That is entirely unnecessary."

"Then let me look at it!"

"If it will make you feel better."

"It will."

"I told you it wasn't that bad."

"I had to check myself."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't go against an entire barking airship crew only to have you bleed to death on me."

"I appreciate your concern."

"I'm not concerned, I just don't want to waste my time helping a _dummkopf _who always tries to get himself killed."

"You're blushing."

"Stuff it."


	17. Lovers in Japan

**This note at the beginning where I just go on talking about random things may contain spoiler-like statements if you haven't seen Scott's Ustream Chat, which I finally went and watched on Friday. Needless to say, I was somewhat inspired, especially when he _guaranteed_ that Alek was going to find out somehow in Goliath that Deryn is actually a girl :)**

**I have actually had this song in my head for a while, but I didn't really know how to approach writing a song fic. Then I heard (on Scott's chat) about a young woman who diguised herself, went and served, then told everyone she was a woman. Instead of appreciating what she had done, they locked her in an insane asylum.**

**That's when I realized that Alek and Deryn have changed so much since the beginning, people are liable to find them... well, kind of odd and unbelivable. Which is where this story came from.**

**This is my first song fic. I don't even think it makes sense, so thoughts and constructive critisizm are much appreciated. The song is "Lovers in Japan" by Coldplay.**

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**Enjoy!**

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_Lovers, keep on the road you're on_

_Runners, until the race is run_

They call you crazy. "What do you know?" they say. "You're just a girl."

You can't answer, because you don't know. But you've felt that twinge, that pull, like the one that draws you the air, but stronger. It binds you to him, ensnaring you, refusing to let go. You know more than they ever will.

_Soldiers, you've got to soldier on_

_Sometimes even the right is wrong_

They call you crazy. "What do you know?" they say. "You're only a boy."

You can't answer, because you don't know. But you've made the difficult decisions, the ones where everything is on the line. You've been right, you've been wrong, you've made mistakes, you've had victories. You almost killed yourself trying to save the life of another. You know more than they ever will.

_They are turning my head out_

_To see what I'm all about_

_Keeping my head down_

_To see what it feels like now_

They call you crazy. "What can you do?" they say. "You're only a child."

You can't answer, because you don't know. But you've seen the death, the destruction. You've lost people, you've gained people. You've seen the hope, and the sweet, simple joy of being alive. You've changed the unchangeable. You've seen and done more things than they ever will.

_But I have no doubt_

_One day, we are gonna get out_

_Tonight maybe we're gonna run_

_Dreaming of the Osaka sun_

_Ohh, Ohh_

_Dreaming of when the morning comes_

They call you crazy. "What do you know?" they say. "Who do you think you are?"

You can't answer, because you don't know.

_They are turning my head out_

_To see what I'm all about_

_Keeping my head down_

_To see what it feels like now_

_But I have no doubt_

_One day the sun will come out_

But you do know this: no matter what, you will always have one person on your side. The one person who makes you who you are. The one person who you can count on at all times. Your comrade-in-arms.

Because that's what love is all about, isn't it?


	18. Angry

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**Happy (late) Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you had a wonderful holiday, and minimal four-year-old cousins latched to your side the entire time. (I think I had to hold mine half the time she was here...)**

**I really hope this one isn't too OOC, but I like it anyways.**

**Enjoy!**

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Alek has learned over time that Deryn doesn't get mad- really, truly angry- all at once. It comes in stages. The problem, however, was recognizing these stages, and knowing what to do to calm her down at each one.

This time, however, she had reached what Alek had termed, "the point of no return." In other words, nothing except time and patience would cool Deryn off. And she was perfectly willing to bite off the head of anyone who so much as looked at her the wrong way while she was at it.

Needless to say, no one else seemed to notice that the girl was simmering, jaw clenched tight with anger, even though the room was packed with people. Deryn's eyes were fixed firmly on the door- she was waiting for someone. And when that someone appeared, Alek knew, all hell would break loose. As if on cue, Newkirk came through the doorway. Alek had no idea what the other boy had done, but he seemed to know what's coming for him. He catches sight of Deryn just a little too late. Before he knows it, she's standing, hurling insult after insult, throwing in a gratuitous bit of swearing into the mixture, until Newkirk flees the scene like a wounded animal.

She sits down with a satisfied huff. The room, which was once filled with jovial conversation, is now dead silent. Cautiously, Alek turned to Deryn and asks, "Are you feeling better now?"

She whips her head around to him, looking for a moment like she wants to stab him. Then, she grins.

"Much better, thank you," she says brightly.


	19. Happy Holidays!

****

**Sorry I've been gone for so long! Life just got crazy, with my show (_Nutcracker_, if you care) and finals, and I've only recently had time to do anything. **

**This is, of course, for the wonderful holiday season we are in the midst of right now. ****I would also like to appologize for the slight angsty-ness of this one. I blame it on having watched 20 hours of _24 _this week.**

**Enjoy! And Happy Holidays!**

* * *

Deryn had long ago decided that Christmas wasn't for her. Not that she hated it, mind. Just that it wasn't her kind of holiday.

It was the one time of year that her aunts became frivolously religious, and in the process, excessively nosy. She had gotten the speech down by the time she was eight- _Merry Christmas, Aunt Mary, it's so nice to see you, how have you been, yes, I'm fifteen now, yes, I still enjoy flying, yes, I'm doing well in school, no, I don't plan on wearing a dress tonight. _Sure, she enjoyed the food and all that. She had even enjoyed the songs, up to a point. For a while, it was something she had just put up with.

Until her Da died. After that, every word, every thought, every song about being together with family and enjoying oneself felt like a slap in the face and a punch in the stomach. The food tasted dry and bitter in her mouth. She no longer sang, and her well-prepared holiday speech crumbled into simple shakes and nods of the head.

So when she herself had taken a reprieve from the ship's festivities, she wasn't as surprised as she might have been to find Alek alone, looking slightly lost.

She sat next to him, and, trying to make him laugh, said, "Us soldiers too much for you, your princeliness? Not used to a real party, are you?"

He looked at her, and smiled, just a little, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. Deryn felt her heart snapping into little, mushy pieces. She pinched her leg, trying to pull herself together.

"I just don't want to be involved when the alcohol gets to Klopp," Alek joked, and Deryn chuckled. He was trying, which was a good sign. Maybe she could get to him.

"You're... doing okay?" she asked gently, and almost regretted it when the little bit of light in his eyes died. He sighed, struggled, then shook his head.

"Not particularly," he mumbled. "I didn't think it would be this... hard."

"The first Christmas is the hardest." It's supposed to be supportive, but it doesn't have the same effect when her own voice cracks, just slightly.

"Does it get any easier?" he questioned, almost hopeful, but not quite.

"A little," she answered. It might not have been the truth, but she didn't have it in her to crush his spirit on Christmas. Getting an idea, she stood up. "Come on, let's go."

He looked up, bewildered. "Where?"

"To the party," she said, extending a hand to help him up. Alek's confusion grew, and he remained seated. "Look, it's not just family you're supposed to spend time with during the holidays, you have friends too." He still didn't take her hand. "Can you do it for me?" she whispered. "Please?"

Finally, after what felt like years, Alek grabbed her hand, grunting as he pulled himself up. "Alright, if you insist."

Deryn grinned broadly. "Good. You'll enjoy it, trust me. Though, to be honest, if Newkirk tells me another story about his sister, I might just bloody well throw him over the side."

This time, Alek really laughs, and gives her a grin that makes her insides tingle. "Thank you, Dylan. For everything."

"Sure," Deryn muttered, trying to hide the blush she felt trying to work its way to her cheeks. "Anytime."


End file.
